Making waves

One of the main things that attracted me to the Welsh Liberal Democrats was the open manner in which the party conducted itself.  It was a refreshing change, coming from Plaid, to be part of an organisation where members could freely say what they thought without fear of retribution.

We are an open book in most respects, which doesn’t always make life easy for us as the media like to make the most of any ‘differences’ and try their best to turn every one into a major split.

In the main, though, most of us at least try and keep our disagreements within the confines of the party whether that be at local or national level.  We have plenty of opportunity to express our views as members, and to influence policy both at Welsh party and Federal level. 

So it does annoy me when people seem to deliberately set out to make waves by launching in to inflammatory letters to the press such as the one which appeared in the Cynon Leader today form two former candidates for election in the Cynon Valley .  We are after all supposed to be a team surely? 

Neither of them have any connection with the Cynon Valley any more, they don’t live there.  One of them doesn’t even live in RCT.  Yet they have chosen to launch an open attack on Nick Clegg and on a number of policies which they say will be to the detriment of Cynon Valley residents.

They certainly do not reflect the views of the majority of RCT members who appreciate the tough position that our federal colleagues were put in and the difficult decisions that have had to be taken. Maybe it would be a good idea to come and discuss the issues with other members first and at least try and influence party opinion if they feel so strongly about things